2015 February by Author U (niversity)

The Author Resource Vol. 6 Issue 2

February 2015

s e D r T N Design Trends

How to Deal with Author and Publishing Overload 10 Ways Authors Can Help Authors to Market Books The Portable Library Earn Your Write to Speak Ways to Ship Your Books Why You Should Be a Self or Indie Publisher Hot Tips for Authors How to Write an Expert Ebook Social Media Trends for 2015

The Author Resource

Mark Your 2015 Calendars ... Save the Dates!

Visit our online Calendar on Author U - go to: http://tinyurl.com/AUdates

February 7 17 19 23 28

Saturday Morning with Author U - The Wide World of Publishing Legalese How to Stay Out of the Frying Pan and the Fire! Tech Tool Box – Creating, Fixing, and Goosing Your Blog WebinarGOLD – “E” Marketing Salon – Write to Hot! How to Climax! Author YOU Mastermind on Saturdays

2, 9, 16, 23

Monday Author Circles – weekly 862-902-0260 access code: 7590373

Every Monday

Author Mentoring Mondays Call 10 a.m. Mountain, 12 p.m. Eastern: 605-475-5920; access code 3252604 Every Monday Author Circles Call 5 p.m. Mountain, 7 p.m. Eastern 862-902-0260; access code 7590373 Every Thursday Author U – Your Guide to Book Publishing radio show

March 7

11 17 21 23

Saturday Morning with Author U - Write with Scrivener from Zero to 100 ... a writing software that will change your authoring life! Turn your thoughts and ideas into epic results! WebinarGOLD - TBA Tech Tool Box – TBA Author YOU Mastermind on Saturdays Salon – TBA

5, 12, 19, 26

Monday Author Circles – weekly 862-902-0260 access code: 7590373

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April 4 11 14 15

Saturday Morning at Author U Author YOU Mastermind on Saturdays Tech Tool Box – TBA WebinarGOLD – TBA

Every Monday

Author Mentoring Mondays Call 10 a.m. Mountain, 12 p.m. Eastern: 605-475-5920; access code 3252604

Every Monday Every Thursday

Author Circles Call 5 p.m. Mountain, 7 p.m. Eastern 862-902-0260; access Code 7590373 Author U – Your Guide to Book Publishing radio show

March 2 7-9

Author U Day at Barnes & Noble, Colorado Blvd. Extrvaganza – Renaissance Denver Hotel

5, 12, 19, 26

12 p.m. Eastern: 605-475-5920; access code - 3252604

Here’s what Your Guide to Book Publishing brings you this month. Your Host is Judith Briles, CEO of Author U. ALL past shows can be heard through the Author U “On the Air” icon on the Home page—a click away. You can also subscribe on iTunes.

“Author U is the premier authoring resource in the country, creating community, education, guidance, vision, and success for the serious author.”

The Author Resource

Webinar Gold Publishing Smarter ... Not Harder

What’s in Your Theme?

Premier Partner

8 Saturday Mornings Publishing Legalese

New Year, New Venue

Current Trends in Book Design

Saturday Mornings Up and Running with Scrivener

10 Evening Salon Write on Fire

11 Tech Toolbox Renew, Review, Revamp ...

12 Tech Toolbox Shine the Spotlight on Your ...

13 Author U Circles

Why Self-publishing is Valid

24 How to Write an Expert E-book

26 The New Home Library

Member News

37 New Members

38 TIPS

41 Member Perks

42 Authors Cookbook

27 Shipping Books: Profit?

43 Code of Ethics

28 Earn Your “Write” to Speak

30 10 Ways Authors Can Help

32 Social Media Trends in 2015

33 Resources to Help Authors

35 Managing Your Book Business

“Author U is the premier authoring resource in the country, creating community, education, guidance, vision, and success for the serious author.”

The Author Resource

Savvy Authors Who Want Their Books to Soar Think ...

Author U stretches members to a higher level. Some will be publishers, some will not, but ALL will learn and grow. Author U shows YOU, the author, how to be the best you think you can be . . . and then how to to be even more than you thought you could be. Success comes from hard work, careful planning, learning your craft, and being in the right place at the right time ... Author U shows you how to navigate and implement strategies that will compliment you and your book.

Visit us online at http://AuthorU.org

www.AuthorU.org FOUNDER: Judith Briles ADVISORY BOARD: Dan Poynter / Greg Godek Rick Frishman / Brian Jud Penny Sansevieri /Marcella Smith Susan RoAne / Peggy McColl BOARD OFFICERS: Judith Briles / John Maling Ed Hoskins / Kelly Johnson

Contact Author U Phone: Judith Briles, CEO, Skype: Twitter: Facebook: Google+ : LinkedIn: Pinterest: Office address:

(303) 885-2207 Judith.Briles @AuthorU http://Facebook.com/AuthorU Join the Community, Author U Join the Author U group http://pinterest.com/authoru Author U (niversity) PO Box 460880, Aurora, CO 80046

DIRECTORS: Amy Collins / AJ White / Mara Purl Steve Replin / Susie Scott Daniel Hall / John Kremer / Lori Ruff Tom Campbell / Joan Stewart BOARD BIOS:

View at: http://tinyurl.com/AU-Board

NEWSLETTER: Nick Zelinger, Cover

www.NZGraphics.com

Linda Lane, Editing

www.DenverEditor.com

Shannon Parish, Layout

www.ShannonParish.com

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Webinar Gold Publishing Smarter … Not Harder Webinar Gold - Publishing Smarter, Not Harder series is for Author U members only. Hosted by Nick Taylor and Judith Briles, a new webinar will be available FREE to all Author U members … non-members can attend for a fee each month. A live presentation will be given on a Wednesday with a “replay” the following Saturday. At the end of the month, an encore will be included from our library of webinars for your enjoyment. The time and login information will be posted on website, as well as in the Monday announcements from Author U.

February 11 Webinar: Webinar: “E” Marketing Cost: FREE to paid-up Author U members; $49 for non-members The beauty of the Internet is that it is always changing and evolving— allowing publishers and authors the ability to find new and more effective ways to reach greater numbers of readers. At the same time, this everchanging nature of the Internet is also a double-edged sword. Marketing trends rise and fall almost like the waves on the sea.

The Next, Next Thing in Publishing

In this WebinarGold, participants will learn how to navigate those waves, which is key to long term success in book publishing. Join us for “E” Marketing Ahas and Strategies with Judith Briles and Nick Taylor. Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3841046378880327937

The Book Shepherding concept is simple: the publishing world is changing … and so must you.

You need an experienced Shepherd and Guide to partner with you as you create, strategize, develop, publish, and achieve your publishing goals. You can’t do it alone without paying the price … you can spend your money creating a book that turns out to be soso; or you can create a book that looks and feels classy, builds your brand, and is a financial success. A best-seller. It’s your choice – you choose.

Wait … Wait … more’s coming! Watch for the Publishing Smarter, Not Harder Learning Labs—ranging from a 4- to 6-week Online Training lab dedicated to a specific topic.

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What’s in Your Theme? Judith Briles, Author U Founder

Have you thought about creating a theme for yourself? For your authoring and publishing side? Think of it as a way to stretch, turning the book and author what ifs and dreams into reality. Each year, Author U has done a stretch … usually starting with a “what if” and then setting up a plan for implementation. Usually, the “what if” became the theme that was spread throughout the year, climaxing at the Extravaganza. This year will be no different. The Extravaganza is all about Making It So … whatever the “so” is for the author. On my personal bucket list for this year is a variety of making it so … from lots more videos, to some morphing on my personal website, to getting photos done professionally by Ashlee Bratton (I get to check that one off already), to changing parts of my site, including the bio section. This month, I’m planning on adding DONE to all on my list. And there’s more. Although I didn’t consciously think that the theme for the Extravaganza 2015—one that was identified in the spring of last year—would become my personal theme for this year, it has become so. Make It So. I like it. I’ve got lots of projects on my drawing board, including the kick-off of the Author YOU Mini Book Guides, with the first debuting before spring is officially over. I’ve paid close attention to some of the experts and their ideas that have been on the AuthorU-Your Guide to Book Publishing radio show that each of you can download on the website. Pulling ideas and ahas, I have put many into my personal Author GamePlan. How about you? What’s YOUR theme for 2015? Are you game to try new things? learn new things? shift your actions and attitudes? Are you willing to stretch and position yourself for big changes? Are you willing to be intentional? Are you primed to go the next step, whatever that is for you? This month’s Saturday Mornings is an essential for all authors, no matter where they are in the journey. Think of something old … something new. It focuses on the ABCs and XYZs of Publishing Legalese, something all of us need a primer and updates on. On February 7th it rolls out at our new Saturday meeting site. Garcia’s Restaurant provides us with a great breakfast—it’s hot at 8 a.m. Don’t forget the Salon—who doesn’t want to Write to Hot with Anne Randolph? And the Tech Tool Box will soar whatever you are doing with and on your Blog. WebinarGold is all about eMarketing. You’ll find everything under the Events tab on the website. AND, get signed up for the Extravaganza … the winners of the Draft to Dream Book Publishing Competition will be announced—a huge windfall to many authors-to-be—and the wonderful Jimmy Wayne will tell his story and sing his song. Don’t miss this.

Continued on page 7 ...

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What’s in Your Theme: Continued from page 6 ...

May 2 will be big … it’s Author U Day at the Colorado Blvd Barnes & Noble. Author signings all day … all customers who use the special coupon at check-out with create a donation back to the Authors Hall of Fame gratis B&N … how very cool is that! Watch for more info and sign-ups to participate.

Judith

2015 Reserve Your Spot now ... MAKE IT SO… the Author U Extravaganza slated for May 7-9, 2015 May 7th Deep-Dive Dinner Workshop with Heather Lutze, author of The Findability Formula, Thumbonomics, and the forthcoming Marketing Espionage from 6 to 9. The Author Shark Tank will be held in one session on Thursday. Brainstorm with the Pros will be back. There will be a session on Agents, Book Reviews, and Legal Issues ... and the Author U Shark Tank will be revealed. Lots to do. Get the dates on your calendar now—you don’t want to miss this. Early Bird Deadline is January 30th—lock yours in pronto. Register: http://authoru.org/extravaganza.html

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The Wide World of Publishing Legalese… How to Stay Out of the Frying Pan and the Fire! February 7th All authors need an overview of some of the important items that are “musts” when it comes to publishing. And there isn’t an author who doesn’t have questions about “legal stuff” and publishing. Today, you will get answers. Do you know and understand how to keep and protect your intellectual property rights in copyright, trademarks, publishing contracts, working with a literary agent, co-writing, and how to understand the legalese in the publishing and authoring worlds? Do you know how to keep and protect your brand as it grows and becomes your strongest asset? How can you tell if your fiction masterpiece will land you in the frying pan because it’s loosely based on a real life situation?

What’s the process in starting down the path to a TV or movie deal based on your work? You will have the answers to these questions and so much more after the February 7th session along with • Copyrights • Joint authorship • Work for hire • Trademarks • Publishing contracts • Literary agent contracts and business points of negotiation • And lots more! Your workshop presenter is Steve Replin, an intellectual property attorney who focuses his law practice on representing those in the creative arts such as writing, film, music, art, fashion, publishers, agents, managers, music labels, and publishers, as well as other affiliated occupations. Steve is perpetually excited about helping new and emerging writers and other creatives build their careers with strategies around protected intellectual property rights, the right contracts, and a clear vision of where you want to go to in order to build your personal brand with strength and direction. He’s the author of an award-winning book, Where to Go When the Banks Says NO, used in universities for their finance courses. His book is a roadmap for entrepreneurs seeking funds to either start a business or grow what they have. His next book is For Women Only: Where to Go When the Bank Says NO, available this Spring. Date: Saturday, February 7, 2015 Time: 8.30 a.m. to noon

Cost: $20 for members; $30 for non-members Note … ALL walk-ins will pay $10 extra at the door.

Location: NEW! Garcia’s Restaurant – Banquet Room on the left of main restaurant (separate entrance) 5050 S. Syracuse, Denver, CO 80237 (I-25 & Belleview – Syracuse is east of 25 when you exit at Belleview) Menu: It’s a full breakfast … Scrambled eggs, Browned Potatoes, Link Sausage, Fresh seasonal fruit, French Toast, Bacon and Assorted breakfast Bread. Served with Orange Juice, Cranberry Juice, Coffee, and Hot Tea

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Up and Running with Scrivener from Zero to 100 A lot of tools and classes are available to help authors publish and market their books. There’s an even larger amount of writing classes designed to teach would-be authors how to craft their books. But what about the tools of actually typing the book? About organizing a book? Sounds silly but what you write in can make a huge difference with how much time, energy, and even money you put into a project. • • • •

Would you like to learn how to streamline what you do? Would you like to know how to broaden your output? Would you like to know how all those who pump out books do it quickly? Would you like to write and work smarter, not harder?

If you answered “YES” … then get signed up NOW for the March 7th Saturday Mornings program at AuthorU.

Introducing Scrivener from Literature Latte. Scrivener is an application designed around writers. Unlike most word processors you’ve used, Scrivener is set up to allow you to write your book or books in a single file. In that file you can also have all of your research material, including web clips, along with notes and profiles for setting, characters, and anything else you might like. Scrivener allows you to import and export many popular file formats, making it easy to work with service providers. E-book Master Nick Taylor will guide you through this mind-opening morning that will morph what you do in front of your computer. He started writing with Scrivener a few years ago and has never looked back. Its tools have streamlined his writing process and made life so much easier. In this meeting, he will show you how to use Scrivener. Get ready to be pleasantly surprised at how simple and intuitive the software is. So please join us for Up and Running with Scrivener. PS … If you don’t have Scrivener now, download it for this session. Here is a link to get a 30-day free trial version of Scrivener. https://www.literatureandlatte.com/trial.php And, bring your laptop … you want to be in synch with the Master. Date: Saturday, March 7, 2015 Cost: $20 for members; $30 for non-members Time: 8.30 a.m. to noon Note … ALL walk-ins will pay $10 extra at the door. Location: NEW! Garcia’s Restaurant – Banquet Room on the left of main restaurant (separate entrance) 5050 S. Syracuse, Denver, CO 80237 (I-25 & Belleview – Syracuse is east of 25 when you exit at Belleview) Menu: It’s a full breakfast … Scrambled eggs, Browned Potatoes, Link Sausage, Fresh seasonal fruit, French Toast, Bacon and Assorted breakfast Bread. Served with Orange Juice, Cranberry Juice, Coffee and Hot Tea

The Author Resource

Write on Fire – How to Climax! February 23rd

6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Note: Only paid-up AuthorU.org members can attend. Remote members welcome via Skype.

Noted writing coach and muse Anne Randolph will be your guide. Last time we did this Salon, it was sold out quickly. Get on board now! *** Leave your laptop at home … instead, bring a writing pad. Anne will connect your head with your hand. Write on Fire! Channel your creativity. Free your genius. Your pen on your paper leads you through creativity exercises, allowing your innermost thoughts to transfer onto the page. HOW TO CLIMAX! Whether you do or not, your story must. Something has to happen that masters character change. This workshop relates Story Arc to sex. The Enticement, Stimulation, and High Points are the same in your story as in a sexual climax. Use the senses to hook your reader, titillate excitement to the point of cloy, and take your reader on a ride to the end. Learn how to take your story over the edge. Drive your story to the brink and back without wine, incense, or lewd words. Crystalize your Story Arc. Join Anne Randolph, creator of Kitchen Table Writing, for this creative Evening Salon. Bring paper and pen and your imagination. Anne believes writing by hand frees the writing spirit. A workshop with Anne is an experience to remember, one that will affect your writing practice for a long time.

Cost: $27 Dinner included Where: Judith Briles’ Home, 14160 E. Bellewood Dr, Aurora, CO 80015 When: Monday, February 23rd Time: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Register: www.AuthorU.org

How Author U communicates with you—Did you know that Author U posts two Blogs a week—Sunday (general article) and Thursday (Top 10 Tweets) that includes what the topic is on Author U - Your Guide to Book Publishing? On Mondays, the general e-blast delivered to your e-mail is called “It’s Monday at Author U.” On Thursdays, the blast is “Thursday at Author U.” Get over to the website and subscribe twice: once for the Blog and once for the general e-mails and notices.

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February 17th from 3 to 6 p.m. Remote members welcome!

Renew, Review, Revamp and Repair Your Blog Note: Tech Tool Boxes are open to paid-up AuthorU.org members. Remote members can participate via Skype. With Pinterest having such a focus on images, we tend to forget that this is just one aspect of how to utilize Pinterest. This workshop will review various methods of using Pinterest for your book and business, including • How you can drive traffic to your blog through Pinterest. • How to conduct a contest through Pinterest. • How you can add your Audioboo recordings to your Pinterest and not only grow your followers, but also offer “snippets” from your book. • How to monetize your book and other products with a Pinterest boost. … and more! This workshop will help you set up your Pinterest account (if needed) and then walk through examples and demos to learn methods for using Pinterest. Instagram is a quick and fun way to share your life and stories using pictures and video. Come learn about Instagram. After a tutorial in setting up Instagram, we’ll start capturing those moments for you to share! Bring your laptop and the log-in details to access the dashboard of your blog. Date: Tuesday, February 17th Time: 3 to 6 p.m. Mountain Cost: $59 Location: Judith Briles’ Office in Aurora, Colorado (you will get directions the day before and what to bring for each session). For out-of-state members, we can set up Skype for you to participate.

Did you know that Author U posts TWO Blogs a week?! Every Sunday and Thursday you will find something new. On Sunday, you get a general information/how-to/what to do. On Thursday, you get the Top Ten Twitter Tweets. (Did you know that Author U posts over 200 Tweets a week?) Subscribe TODAY and get your FREE info-pak of the Top 5 Things You Need to Know to Publish on the AuthorU.org website.

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March 17th from 3 to 6 pm Remote members welcome!

Shine the Spotlight on Your Media Page Note: Tech Tool Boxes are open to paid-up AuthorU.org members. Remote members can participate via Skype. Authors – when was the last time you shined the spotlight on the media page on your website? Or have you even thought about it? Spring “pops” official this week (Friday, March 20th) … it’s time to spring yourself, your media presence, and your book forward. Interested in speaking engagements and media exposure? The marketing of your book and business should include a media page on your site. Join us for this Tech Toolbox and learn must-have items for your media page, bios (yes, plural!) to post, and to review author one-sheets. After this workshop, the spotlight will be so bright on your media page you’ll have to wear shades! Bring your laptop and the log in details to access the dashboard of your blog. Date: Tuesday, March 17th Time: 3 to 6 p.m. Mountain Cost: $59 Location: Judith Briles’ Office in Aurora, Colorado (you will get directions the day before and what to bring for each session). For out of state members, we can set up Skype for you to participate.

May 2 will be big … it’s Author U Day at the Colorado Blvd. Barnes & Noble. Author signings all day … all customers who use the special coupon at check-out will create a donation back to the Authors Hall of Fame gratis B&N … how very cool is that! Watch for more info and sign-ups to participate.

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Author U Circles The online Author U Circles are live! Times are 7 ET, 6 CT, 5 MT, 4 PT. The Author U Circles are exclusively for paid-up AuthorU.org members—no guests allowed. The Phone # is: 862-902-0260 Access Code: 7590373 What’s the value? … Priceless!

How about not paying for an hour of specialized coaching? How about being the “fly on the wall” and getting answers to questions others pose that you haven’t even thought of? How about engaging with others who are on the same journey you are? We invite you to join an Author U Circle. Each call will have a facilitator and a group of authors who are in a similar stage in the process. Bring your questions. We will have answers.

February 2, March 2

These calls will be on Mondays at 5 p.m. MT throughout the month. They each will last between 30 - 50 minutes. 1st Monday - Writing 2nd Monday - Platform Building 3rd Monday - Production 4th Monday – Marketing & Book Sales Where are you in your process? Pick one of two Author Circles and mark your calendars.

February 9, March 9

Get your time zone on your calendar now and number to call in: Mondays at 4 p.m. PT, 5 p.m. MT, 6 p.m. CT, 7 p.m. ET February 23, March 23

February 16, March 16

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... and You If you are looking for a small group of enthusiastic authors … some in the beginning stages and some “old hats” … Author YOU may be the perfect fit. Author YOU is all about education, just like the many AuthorU.org functions; but this one is a bit different. Totally informal and casual, it’s designed as educational for mentoring in the field of writing, authoring, and publishing books. Designed as an old-fashioned “Circle” or “Salon,” Author YOU is held once each month for authors with inquiring minds—be it about publishing, writing, social media, marketing books, the latest gadgets and tools to use, you name it—that Judith Briles hosts in her open living room and kitchen area. It’s always held on a Saturday morning from 9 to noon—the coffee and tea are hot when you arrive—and it’s been around since the Fall of 2012. Take advantage of it— the cost is FREE ... what you need to bring is a healthy snack to share and yourself, along with enthusiasm, questions, and the willingness to learn and share info if you can provide it when a topic is in the Circle. Created in a loose-structure format, it has no set agenda ... the topics are created via posts on a flip chart as people arrive: what you want or need help in. It’s simple, it’s fun, it’s highly informative, and it’s FREE. As Author YOU member Gene Morton says, “It’s like a personalized MasterMind group—I always walk away with information that I can immediately use.” To find out more information and the next Author YOU date, check out the regular postings at www.Meetup.com/AuthorYOU

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John Maling specializes in editing non-fiction books, including history, biography, autobiography, spirituality, personal finance, business and sales, how-to, self-help, inspirational, and personal narratives. Drawing on his educational and scientific background, John is skilled in editing a variety of genres as well as creating the Index when a book has completed layout. John’s professional background includes teaching, research, and publishing in physics and engineering.

Your book is a mine of information; the reader needs a map to know and then find the hidden treasure they seek within sometimes hundreds of pages. That is the Table of Contents first, a very general guide, followed by the Index—labeling in detail the subjects and ideas—as entries and subentries—within the myriad of topics, both related and unrelated, to help the readers zero in on the subject of interest, in their quest for details on a favorite idea. . . .

Read John’s full article on Indexing by going to: http://tinyurl.com/leh5l3l

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New Year, New Venue, New Insights by Philippa Burgess

For our Colorado members, or any of our members who are in Colorado at the time, Author U hosts monthly programs bringing in a variety of expert speakers to discuss writing, publishing and marketing essentials for authors. The monthly meetings have now moved over to Garcia’s in DTC. The venue was lauded by all who attended as a triumph. For the breakfast, bottomless coffee/tea/juice, and incredible educational session to be offered for to be only $20 for members was seemingly too good to be true. But truly much of what Author U offers throughout the year, when you pay attention and participate, is just that. January’s program brought in e-book expert and author in his own right Nick Taylor. He shared the ins-and-outs of producing an e-book. He also shared several key pitfalls to avoid, along with many marketing insights to take anyone further faster. He talked about expectations and mindsets, saying there is no silver bullet. He advised that what worked three years ago is not going to work today, or what worked before for you or someone else more recently, may not work again. Different books are going to be on different paths. Not everything you try is going to work, but that doesn’t mean you give up. You have to really be thinking long term. He reiterated truths we all need to hear: “It’s hard work” and “Be nice and don’t be a jerk!” speaking to managing our presence both online and off. One of his many tips is to get stuff done as much as you can before bringing it to service providers, such as him. Most providers charge an hourly rate. The less of their time you need, the more it saves them time and you money. Of course, you can always ask the question, “Is your time worth more, or your money worth more?” and make decisions accordingly about who should do the majority of work. Another tip that can save an author many headaches when it comes to publishing e-books is to make all changes to your Word document that your editor/designer makes in their layout program. That way, you always have the most updated version available to you, not only if anything should happen to your designer’s file, but also so you are print-ready when it comes time to make your e-book. Some of the other key take-aways included making the most of -

Amazon Kindle Select Book Bub Shelfari Goodreads LinkedIn Bloggers

Sign up now for the February 7th program on The ABC’s and XYZ’s of Publishing Legalese featuring legal eagle, Steve Replin. Register Now: http://AuthorU.org/

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Current Trends in Book Design: Some Thoughts By Nick Zelinger, NZ Graphics

I must admit, as a busy book designer, I don’t make as much of an effort as I should to seek out the latest, greatest trends in book designs these days. I do investigate online or at local bookstores a few times a year—to awaken a tired creative spirit, to replenish some needed inspiration—and I’m fortunate to work with publishing professionals who keep me on my toes in regard to what’s hot and what’s not. Like most trends in fashion, music, and art, a cyclical element exists – things come and go and come around again. Not just with imagery or styles of illustration, but font styles, too. Nothing dates a book cover as much as the ill use of a font style – something that screams yesterday – unless that is the goal of the author and his/her designer. One such odd trend this past year was the “Headless Woman” cover (check out https://www. goodreads.com/list/show/2987.Headless_Women for some examples.) This current design “phase” is seen on many fiction and even non-fiction titles. Some obvious reasons may be that a face can be distracting or erroneously depict or pigeon-hole a story’s character. Now we’re seeing lots of legs, feet, torsos, etc. Works for many romance novels – but like all trends, it will be replaced by some new “standard.” The biggest issue in showing any face or figure on a book cover is that it invites comparisons and lack of inclusion. Why is that a Caucasian and not an AfricanAmerican, a Latino, or some other ethnic person? You don’t want to invite that kind of scrutiny when trying to sell your book – unless your topic is totally directed to a certain demographic. The trends in YA Fiction are quite challenging because it is such a competitive market (see http://writelydesigned.com/current-trends-ya-fiction-book-cover-design/). The huge successes of The Hunger Games and the Divirgent series all depict strong female characters (note that the “Headless Woman” syndrome does not affect this youth category). Regarding non-fiction titles, designers have noted the success of the Malcom Gladwell titles and the design spin-offs (white background, simple, centered, conservative font styles, small single image, etc.). Trends (and copying styles) in book design mirror pretty much anything else in the entertainment world. If a product (film, TV show, song, book) have huge success, designers and writers find a way to ride those coattails and hope for similar outcomes. Having been a book designer for over 20 years, I realize that nothing is ever quite new or original – but it CAN be perceived as such if you can assemble the right elements to create something FRESH and TRUE to the message and intent of a book. That’s why we constantly advise authors to take the time Continued on page 18 ...

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Current Trends: Continued from page 17 ...

to visit book stores, to seek out books that their title will compete against, to see how a bestseller looks and feels, to gather inspiration and design direction. Since we live in such a visual age, the challenge for designers is to create a balance between text (which should always take prominence) and visual elements that will enhance the story (not distract from it) and create that special â&#x20AC;&#x153;landscapeâ&#x20AC;? for the reader (see http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/ by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/60700-the-future-of-reading-10-trends-for-2014-andbeyond.html for a wide-ranging article on publishing trends). In upcoming articles, I hope to discuss in detail specific trends or design features in different genres. Meanwhile, I plan on visiting my local bookstore to browse the shelves and every once in a while come away with new inspiration. Nick Zelinger, owner of NZ Graphics, has been a graphic designer for 20 years. He received a degree in graphic art technology from the Colorado Institute of Art was the art director for Centennial Aviation, a bimonthly magazine for private pilots. Now an independent designer, he specializes in book (cover and interior) design and production and has won multiple awards for his cover designs. He also creates collateral marketing materials for authors, such as logos, brochures, and virtually anything to aid authors with book promotion. www.NZGraphics.com

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Author U - Your Guide to Book Publishing with Judith Briles ... Everything You Want to Know, But Didn’t Know What to Ask launched live last year and now has over 250,000 downloads each month. Every Thursday, Judith hosts an hour radio show with guests and features. Live with call-ins. For the beginner and intermediate author—all episodes will be available for downloads and podcasting. Listen live or click on the podcast from the website. Recent programs focused on how to maximize social media, how to create book publicity, how to market globally, beyond Amazon, how to market fiction, and so much more. If you want to write and publish a book ... if you want to be successful as an author, Your Guide to Book Publishing ... Everything You Want to Know, But Didn’t Know What to Ask is for you. You will hear about statistics, scenarios, and strategies on what to do now! As The Book Shepherd, Dr. Judith Briles is in, and each week she will include publishing professionals that will reveal tips and secrets to the author’s journey. If there is a book in you, you want to listen, learn ... and, yes, call-in with your questions each week.

http://togi.us/authoru

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Why Self-publishing Is a Valid Option for Your Book By Michele DeFilippo Self-publishing, or independent publishing, is gaining broader acceptance every day. At one time, book buyers thought the only reason a person would self-publish is because the book had been rejected by a “real” publisher – those days are gone! Now, one out of every three e-books sold on Amazon is self-published. (http://tinyurl.com/ljju9em) Here are six convincing reasons for taking the selfpublishing route. Give the “gatekeeper” the run-around: No longer do people see traditional publishing houses as somehow validating authors and their books. Traditional publishers were the gatekeepers of what we as the reading public were allowed to read. Now people are demanding direct access to whatever they want to read; why would an author opt to allow a traditional publisher to close the gates against his or her adoring fans? Let readers be the judge of what is worth reading, not publishing companies, and gain satisfaction from making a success out of something that others might deem a weak prospect. Money: Money is one of the main reasons as to why self-publishing has taken off. According to Judith Briles, The Book Shepherd (http://TheBookShepherd.com), traditional publishers used to pay a ten percent royalty on the cover price for a hard cover and less for paperback. In addition, publishers did a thorough edit of the book and invested in marketing. No more. Today, publishers give books a cursory edit and expect authors to invest in the marketing. Royalties are now paid on the net revenue, meaning that authors may earn between seven and eight percent on the amount left over AFTER the retailer takes its discount, which works out to less than a dollar a copy for a twenty dollar book, depending on the contract with the publisher. This is for the first five thousand copies. Higher royalties are paid for each additional block of five thousand copies sold, but since most books don’t sell five thousand copies; in effect, this means that only celebrities and bestselling authors make money. What can a self-published author expect to earn per book? I can’t give you a straight answer here. Because an independent author has more options for distribution (i.e., sell books via one’s own website, bookseller websites, other websites, in stores, etc.), and because online booksellers are continually tweaking their author plans, the amount retained by each author varies. By selling on one’s own website, an author can keep it all (minus book production expenses). http://Authorearnings.com reports in their study of bestsellers on Amazon.com that as of July, 2014, “…self-published authors earn more in royalties than ‘Big 5’ authors, combined.”

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The most important thing for a self-published author to remember is this: In the absence of a traditional publishing company, the author IS the publishing company and must undertake that business seriously, understanding the risks and rewards as thoroughly as any entrepreneur. Businesses require an investment; independent publishers can expect to invest money for editing, cover design, page design, layout, proofing, and marketing. But their return on investment is much higher than if a publisher were to cover some of those expenses. Timing: The path to traditional publishing can take months (or years, if dealing with multiple rejections). If you self-publish, there are no delays, no waiting for it to get picked up by a traditional publisher, no dependency on someone else’s timeline or priorities. Publish the book when the timing suits your business, personal, and professional goals. You can strike while the iron is hot! Control: Authors who publish independently maintain complete control over look, content, story, style, and quality. Editors in traditional publishing houses can make an author change his or her story or content to fit what the publisher deems to be more marketable. You know your readers best (or you should). If you are a consultant, speaker, physician, lawyer, or other professional who wants to publish a book to further business and personal goals, you need to maintain that control over content, AND you need to maintain control over timing. There is no sense publishing a book that misses the market cycle or is out-of-date because publisher rejections mean the book’s research and findings are yesterday’s news. Flexibility: Self-published authors can publish revised editions whenever they want. Printing on demand means that authors don’t need to wait until the original print run sells out before financing their next venture. In addition, authors are free to make deals for bulk purchases—perhaps for gifts or for conference attendees—and for foreign rights to publish in other countries. Marketing: Whether you are with a traditional publishing house or self-publishing, you will in large part be responsible for the marketing of your book. So you might as well be in complete control of how that’s done and what you spend. Independent authors can be creative about marketing. For example, Seth Godin is marketing his latest book Your Turn “horizontally” by giving away a free book with every purchased copy. Recipients of free

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copies will share the freebie. In late December 2014, he shipped his 50,000th copy. View his video at (http://www.yourturn.link/) In addition, a book topic might appeal to too small an audience for most publishers to consider. However, as authors with a narrow niche typically know their audience well and have direct access to that audience through their professional contacts, they have an opportunity to market their books successfully. Bloggers with hundreds or thousands of followers, speakers at conferences, and writers with articles that are published regularly have ready-made platforms from which to sell their books. Again, don’t let a publishing house tell you why or why not your book will sell and to whom, and don’t deny your audience the information you think they need. As with any entrepreneur, if you think you have a unique product, don’t let anything stand in your way of bringing it to market! Michele DeFilippo owns 1106 Design, a Phoenix-based company that offers cover design, interior design and layout, manuscript editing, and more with expert self-publishing advice and hand-holding every step of the way. Please visit http://1106design.com to download her free e-book, Publish Like the Pros: A Brief Guide to Quality Self-Publishing.

Special offer for Author U members: AU members will receive a 5% discount with 1106 Design. Enter code “AU-FivePercentDiscount” in the “Additional Notes” section on our order form.

May 7th Deep-Dive Dinner Workshop with Heather Lutze, author of The Findability Formula, Thumbonomics, and the forthcoming Marketing Espionage from 6 to 9. Prior to Penny’s first session are the Eaglet/Newbie sessions. The Author Shark Tank will be held in one session on Thursday . Brainstorm with the Pros will be back. There will be a session on Agents, Book Reviews, and Legal Issues ... and the Author U Shark Tank will be revealed. Lots to do. Get the dates on your calendar now—you don’t want to miss this. The Early, Early Bird left and flew the coup … Prices are low right now—lock yours in pronto. Before they increase AGAIN. Register: http://authoru.org/extravaganza.html

The Author Resource

How to Write an Expert E-Book By Dr. Patsi Krakoff, ContentforCoaches.com I get calls from executive coaches and consultants who want to publish an e-book. They ask if I can help to ghostwrite their expert e-book either with them or for them. The answer is yes: in certain fields, I am a ghostwriter. My area of writing expertise is in leadership development and coaching for leadership. I am both a psychologist and a journalist. My clients are usually executive coaches and management consultants. We’re often a good match for each other. Some of my clients have clear ideas of what they want to say. They may even have an outline. Some have already published books themselves (“Never again!” some say). But most don’t have an outline, a story, a message… or a clue! But they’re right about one thing: If you’re an expert, you should publish an e-book. It will help you get found, get known, and get clients. I could write an e-book about that! If I were to write an e-book about how to write an expert e-book … how would I do that? What would I say? I’d begin by listing best practices for an expert e-book into a blog post like here, and maybe create that e-book later. First, remember that steps involved in writing an e-book are not the same steps involved as publishing one. Two separate activities… • Each is important and each needs a lot of time and expertise • Not everyone should write their own book • Not everyone should publish and market their own book • Decide which you want to do and outsource the stuff you’re not good at doing. • If you want to write a book, start asking yourself some hard questions: • • • • • • • • • • •

What do you want to say? Do you have a message? A story? Research? Information, inspiration, entertainment – what’s compelling? Unique? For whom are you going to write your book? Why? What do you want the book to accomplish? By when? How much time, energy, money do you want to spend? What are your expectations? What will you gain by writing/publishing this book? What will happen if you don’t do it? How much is it costing you (money, people, work, clients, reputation, etc.) to not do it?

Next, start writing content: 1. Write down 3 – 5 of your most compelling stories, ideas, nuggets, experiences, messages you want to include. Continued on page 25 ...

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2. What’s your point? 3. What’s your conclusion? What you want readers to do, think, believe, act on…? 4. Write an outline to include the above points in a sequential order. At this point you can continue writing or start looking for a ghostwriter. Ask yourself, is it worth my time to learn how to do this and actually write the sentences? Or should I hire a writer who already knows how to string together sentences, paragraphs, chapters, from preface to conclusion, to notes, appendices, etc.? So you see, there’s more to it than you might initially think. That’s why so many excellent experts start to write their own e-book and then give up. But with strategic thinking through of key questions to ask and answer, you’ll come up with a realistic plan. And you’ll be on your way to executing your realistic action plans each week, until you’re done.

Dr. Patsi Krakoff is co-founder of The Blog Squad, a Doctor of Psychology, and has a specialty in content marketing for the Web for small businesses. This includes articles, newsletters, blogs, e-books, white papers, and e-zines for executive coaches, authors, speakers, and consultants. You can’t have a strong Internet presence unless you’ve got good content. How’s yours? Here’s how I can help you: 1. I can provide a review of your online content. 2. I can coach you for better online writing. 3. I can provide you with content for blogs, e-newsletters, and white papers and e-books.

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26 BOOK PROMOTION POYNTERS

The New Home Library is Portable By Dan Poynter, The Book Futurist

People are carrying their important books with them—on their smartphones. Your tribe, those who are as fascinated by your subject as you are, need and want your book. But now, they don’t have to leave it at home. They can carry it with them. Pew Research says 97% of people have a mobile phone. 58% have a smartphone. The smartphone percentage will grow as two-year contracts expire and people trade-up. People now spend more time staring at smartphones than television. College women spend 10 hours each day on their smartphones, talking, texting, listening to music, reading, using aps, and surfing the web. College men, 8.5 hours. Look around. Everyone is carrying a smartphone in his or her hand. A smartphone connects to the telephone system in your car. Airlines are allowing passengers to plug their smartphones into power and free Wi-Fi—just as they do on the ground. The future of libraries is mobile. Fourteen percent of the population moves every year. Paper books are heavy and take up a lot of space. They are no fun to move. E-books are easier to store and to transport. E-books fit the new home library. For more of Dan Poynter’s wisdom, subscribe to his Publishing Poynters newsletter. http://mad.ly/signups/42313/join

Tech Toolboxes Hot tools for communicating your book, expertise, words. Limited space—sign up now. Register on the website. Available to members everywhere via Skype. February 17th

Renew, Review, Revamp and Repair Your Blog … all details on the website under the Events tab.

The Author Resource

Shipping Books: Profit Center or Cost Center? By Bret Ridgway

As an author, you know you’re typically working with relatively small margins. After all, you’re selling an item that people are usually paying no more than somewhere between $10 and $20 for. By the time you pay for the printing costs, the distributor’s and/or wholesaler’s cut, maybe a literary agent and publisher’s share, marketing costs, and everything else you’re lucky if you scrape out a dollar or two in profit for yourself. That’s why it is so important that you give a lot of thought as to how you’re going to handle the shipping costs for orders sold by you directly to end customers. Should you just try to cover your actual costs or can you set up your shipping and handling charges to become a separate profit center in some way? So how much does it actually cost to ship a book? These days most authors ship their book orders via the postal service’s media mail category. If your book weighs up to one pound the media mail charge for shipments within the United States is $2.92 at the current time. If your book weighs over a pound but less than two pounds the postage costs are $3.40. Each additional pound is about 48 cents. If you are working with a fulfillment company, there is a fulfillment charge per order that you’ll need to calculate in to determine your total overall shipping and handling costs. It can vary some from company to company, but this usually runs somewhere around $2 for a single book order up to $3 for multiple book orders. Assuming you have a one pound book you’re looking at $2.92 in postage plus a $2.00 fulfillment fee for a total of $4.92 out-of-pocket to get your book into the hands of your reader. So you have to decide are you going to charge your customer the $4.92 and break even on your costs or something like $5.95 or $6.95 for shipping and handling so you make a dollar or two on the shipping? Amazon has planted the figure of $3.99 in the minds of everyone as to what the shipping cost for a book should be. But you need to remember you are not Amazon; they have economies of scale and shipping rate agreements with the carriers that you could only dream about. If you try to match Amazon’s rate, you are going to be out-of-pocket about another dollar for every book you ship. That’s pretty lousy math for most authors, who are already working with very narrow margins. There is no wrong or right answer. You have to do what you think is right for you. If you’ve got a strong backend system in place where your book converts readers into buyers of higher priced products or services, you can afford to break even or even lose a little on shipping for each sale. But that’s a game most of us can’t afford to play. So give it all a lot of thought before you decide which direction you want to go when setting up your shipping and handling charges. It can have a dramatic impact on the profits of every book you sell. Bret Ridgway is co-founder of Speaker Fulfillment Services, a company dedicated to working with authors, speakers, and information marketers. He is a frequent guest on teleseminars, webinars, and live events where he shares his unique behind-the-scenes knowledge of all aspects of information marketing.

The Author Resource

Earn Your ‘Write’ to Speak: Adding the B.S.S. to Your Book Dreams By Susan RoAne Disclaimer: I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth about the world in which I have lived for over 26 years. It may NOT be pretty but it will be real.

Have a dream, MAKE A PLAN. Educate yourself about the industry. Study the successes, the failures and GO FOR IT.

YOUR BSS = P.T.P. + M.A.Z.E.L. (Best-Seller Status = Price To Pay) M - mentors A - allies Z - zeal E - editors L - LUCK (timing meets preparation) Are you willing to pay the price? Are you ‘teem-ing’ with Time, Energy, Emotion, and Moxie?

“NO matter how cynical I get, I just can’t keep up.” Lily Tomlin (a Kennedy Center Honoree).

There is a cost! The following information is what I wish I had 26 years ago…and the ME now, then! Fact: Dr. Judith Briles is the Godmother of How To Work a Room. Are you willing to PTP? Take this self–administered (self-inflicted) QUIZ: Are you READY to 1. Spend 6-18 months perfecting a proposal? Y N 2. Cogitate, reflect, research and distill? Y N 3. READ: papers, mags, books, research? Y N 4. Dance the POP Cult CHA, Cha, cha (learn all you can about what is going on)? Y N 5. Interview the marketplace? Y N 6. Go to the Mag racks and assess where there is a fit with your book? Y N 7. Be alone, silent, and introspective? Y N Continued on page 29 ...

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8. CONSUME information, ideas, industry trends? Y N 9. STUDY the industry? Y N 10. Visit bookstores to 5-sense books? (Get the feel, visual, listen to market, etc). Y N 11. Invest in a personal editor? Y N 12. Meet deadlines? This CANNOT be underestimated in its importance. Y N 13. EAT, sleep, breathe your BOOK while staying in balance? Y N 14. LOSE sleep? Y N 15. Turn down social invitations to conserve your writing energy? Y N 16. Defer to others, give up control? (or make all decisions if you selfpublish or partner with a small publisher) Y N 17. Wake up at 2:30 am PST to do an Eastern time radio interview? Y N 18. Allocate funds for professional book publicity? Y N 19. Take a book publicity course? Y N 20. Schlep through cities, airports, carrying your bookmarks and autograph pens? Y N 21. BE VERY nice to all bookstore personnel? Y N 22. Remember that those paid the least are those who handsell? Y N 23. Pay for media training (an interview is NOT a speech)? Y N 24. DROP everything to interview with a newspaper, Journal or Magazine, podcast or radio on their deadlines? Y N 25. Get outside of yourself, your interests, your expertise? Y N 26. REMEMBER from whence you came? Bringing along the next generation of best-selling authors? Y N 27. Master social media to get the word out via twitter, facebook, linkedin, google+, snapchat, etc? Y N 28. Have you started to amass a mailing list of friends, followers, subscribers, etc? If not, start. Y N 29. Spend six months planning a launch, scheduling book events at stores, galleries, libraries, etc.? Y N Scoring the test is not as important as knowing the SCORE about the world of publishing. And the book biz is changing radically, daily and with the speed of light. Susan RoAne is the best-selling author of the classic Silver Anniversary of How to Work a Room, The Secrets of Savvy Networking, What Do I Say Next? Et al. She has sold over a million books worldwide in 13 countries and was #1 on Book of the Month Club’s bestseller list (and the San Francisco Bay Area Best seller list). Susan founded www.PickMyBrainconsulting.com to assist, coach, nudge, and matchmake aspiring best-selling authors on-line, on the phone, and in-person over lattes. She can be found at www.susanroane.com and can be reached at susan@susanroane.com

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10 Ways Authors Can Help Each Other with Book Marketing By Sandra Beckwith

Do you ever feel like you’re in this book marketing game all by yourself? It can feel like a pretty lonely experience at times, right? So what do you do when you’re lonely in your personal life? Maybe you call a friend to talk, go to a mall where there are lots of other people, or arrange to meet a couple of friends for dinner. In other words, you take steps to connect with people so that you feel less alone. It can work that way with book marketing, too. In fact, you can connect with other authors to get and give support even if you don’t feel like you’re out there all by yourself, trying to get the word out about your books. There are many ways to collaborate with other authors so that you all benefit, no matter where you are in the process or how much you do or don’t know about book promotion. Authors who work alongside their peers in the spirit of collaboration instead of working secretly because they’re afraid of competition will always come out farther ahead. With that in mind, here are 10 ideas for supporting other authors in ways that will encourage them to support you, too. 1. Create a blog network for your genre. Identify a handful of other writers in your genre who will join with you to promote your blog posts — and vice versa. List each other’s blogs in a blog roll on your sites and commit to commenting on each other’s posts on a regular basis. You’ll all be guaranteed that you’ll have a few comments each time you post; but just as importantly, you and your readers might learn something from the observations shared by those in your network, too. 2. Plan a “local authors night” at a bookstore. The connections you make with other local authors will support you well beyond this fun night of book signings and sales. Make sure you pull in authors from a range of genres so that your group appeals to the widest reader audience possible. If you’re not certain who to contact, ask your local librarian – he or she probably knows of several other local authors. 3. Form a book marketing group on Facebook or LinkedIn. I love the interaction that happens in the Build Book Buzz group that I started on Facebook last year (https://www.facebook.com/groups/BuildBookBuzz/). Authors are talking about book marketing challenges and sharing their experiences on a daily basis. Join that one, or form your own there or on LinkedIn, where there are lots of existing groups to join, too. One tip, though: Look out for the Facebook groups that are nothing but links to Amazon sales pages. You want to connect with authors person-to-person, not book-link to book-link.

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4. “Like” each other’s author Facebook Pages. It’s quick and easy. Go one step further and make it a point to visit Author Pages once a week and comment on something posted. The authors will be grateful because the comments will help attract site visitors. You will make lots of new author friends by doing this, too. 5. Form a Meetup group. Connect with local authors by organizing and promoting a regular Meetup. Select a book marketing or other type of topic for each meeting; ask one of the members to research the topic and present to the rest of the group so that everybody learns. Get started at Meetup.com. 6. Guest blog for each other. This is such a win-win. It’s one less post for you to write while you support another author. Plus, your blog will benefit from the exposure to your guest blogger’s fan base. In fact, when I used Google Analytics to determine my 10 most popular blog posts for 2014, I was thrilled to discover that half of those posts were guest articles. I have to think that they were extra popular because the writers shared their post link with their social networks, generating traffic I wouldn’t have gotten without them. Maybe you’ll find a few new fans in the crowd. 7. Get a little link love going. Generate linkbacks to author sites by sharing their blog posts and other content on your social networks. Tweet about a blog post that really resonated with you or share it on Facebook or in LinkedIn. When you do this on Twitter or Facebook, make sure you tag the author whose content you’re sharing so that they know you’re doing your best to help. 8. Read and review each other’s books. Create a review group with other authors in your genre – or authors in genres you enjoy reading – and write honest reviews of each other’s books. Establish rules in advance about reasonable turn-around times and how to handle books you don’t like so nobody creates problems. 9. Use their books as contest giveaways. Looking for a prize for a contest? While the contest winner might receive your book, offer a friend’s book as second prize. When all the prizes are books in your genre, you’re helping readers find more books that they love – nobody will complain about that. 10. Interview each other on your blog or podcast. Help readers get to know other authors and their work by interviewing them on your blog or podcast. Your guests will bring their fans to the podcast, boosting your downloads and giving you more visibility while you’re doing the same for your guest. Implement even three of these ideas and you’ll feel more connected and less isolated while you move forward with your book marketing. And . . . you’ll probably sell more books! Sandra Beckwith is a national award-winning former publicist who now teaches authors how to promote, publicize, and market their books. Her popular Build Book Buzz site has been named a top website for authors for the Association of Independent Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors. Get free tips and how-to information in her Build Book Buzz e-newsletter at http://buildbookbuzz.com.

The Author Resource

Social Media Trends in 2015 By Melody Barnes Jones

Changes are afoot in social media. Let’s face it: changes are ALWAYS afoot in social media, but there are some interesting trends happening right now. Video is bigger than ever, and collaboration is the name of the game. In August 2014, Facebook surpassed the almighty YouTube in video views from desktop computers, according to comScore and as reported by Social Media Examiner. While YouTube still reigns in overall views across all devices, it’s astounding to note that in September 2014, Facebook users viewed videos a billion times. For authors, this is fantastic news. It’s time to look into podcasting or videoblogging to get the best social engagement for you and your book. Don’t worry about being too fancy. Some of the most popular videos are recorded using a smart phone or a tablet. It’s more important that you just do it! Establish your own YouTube channel and then cross-promote your videos to different social media platforms – and post on your blog of course. Another rising trend is social collaboration and partnership. To paraphrase an African proverb, if you want to go far, go together. And you do. Want to go far. Think strategically about your expertise as an author. Who could be a power partner for you online and/or offline? If your expertise is in how to alleviate headache pain using natural remedies, is there a local market carrying products you believe in that could use a guest blogger? What if you sweetened the pot and told them you would cross-promote to various social media networks, and in exchange they carry your book? Would they love it if you conducted mini-seminars in their store where you discuss these products and – guess what – sell your book? Another idea is to collaborate with a fellow author who writes in a genre or subject that complements your own. Some ideas: guest post on each other’s blogs; leverage each person’s social media fan base by sharing information; do video interviews of each other and post to YouTube and Facebook; pair up for book signings and make sure someone gets photos and video of you doing it, and then – you know what I’m going to say – post all of it to social media. Jump on these social media trends right now, and you’ll leverage 2015 to your best advantage. Need to get in gear with your social media? Join my 30-day intensive Kick in the Pants Program beginning March 9, 2015. We’ll get you moving in the right direction. Go to www.SocialMediaMelody. com for more info.

Melody Barnes Jones is owner of Social Media Management Services, where she takes care of the day-to-day so you don’t have to. She offers coaching, trainings, and management of your accounts. Email her at melody@socialmediamelody.com.

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The Technology and Tips Toolbox

Resources to Help Authors Create, Share, and Curate Content By Kelly Johnson One of the tasks to manage for your business in the new year is planning out a schedule of blog posts, articles, and tips you want to share with your target audience. As we have all experienced, sometimes several ideas come to us at once, and other times, we have “writer’s block.” In addition to sharing our own writing, we also try to be of service to our target audience by reviewing related content and letting them know what’s hot, what’s not, and having them join in on the discussion. Here are 4 resources to help you create, share and curate content. 1. ContentGems https://contentgems.com/start ContentGems monitors the best online sources, including 200,000+ news sources, blogs, and social media accounts, and filters the results based on your keywords and more. ContentGems allows you to share your expertise and curated content to social media and your website. The basic plan is free, but for $9.00 per month, you can have up to “10 interests” and up to 100 custom RSS sources. The Personal Plan also includes real-time content suggestions.

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2. Swayy http://www.swayy.co/ Swayy helps you discover the most engaging content to share with your audience on social media, based on their interests and engagement. They give you relevant #hashtags and @handles, find articles, videos, infographics, and more. Analytics show you what content is the most effective for growing your community. The basic plan for one individual is free, but you can increase your privileges and services (and the number of people who access through your subscription) for as little as $9.00 per month. 3. List.ly http://list.ly/

This service allows you to quickly put together lists for your audience. It automates list creation into “listicles” and allows collaboration. 4. Triberr http://triberr.com/ Triberr is a community of bloggers that have come together to share and read great content. You can see quotes from top bloggers and influencers and current “conversations.” Most people find the free version sufficient, but if you want “larger tribes and special features,” check out their $10.00 per month Premium membership. To your success,

Kelly Kelly Johnson works with authors to manage technical, creative, and administrative projects for their businesses and books. She’s an article-writing coach, does blog and website maintenance, knows how to implement an online shopping cart strategy, and is the principal of Cornerstone Virtual Assistance. She can be reached at kjohnson@cornerstoneva.com. Her site is www.cornerstoneva.com.

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Managing Your Book Business without Overload By Marty Dickinson

From the moment you conceive the idea for the next best-selling book, you are officially in the book business. If your book is good enough, you will eventually be asked to speak. When you become a popular speaker, your followers will literally beg you to write more books and produce topic-related products. Eventually, you’ll want to cut back on your speaking and traveling and live off of your residual income empire that you’ve built over time. How can you manage it all from the beginning? There are five main components you will need to manage your book business lifecycle from beginning to retirement while reducing management overload along the way. 1. Website – Of course you need a website, but not one that bogs you down, fighting off hackers and spending tens of dollars every week for support help. Your website is the very heart of everything you do on the Web. It should be healthy, robust, search-engine-friendly, easier to manage than even WordPress allows, and secure. For the past several years, I’ve been an evangelist for WordPress websites for authors and speakers. New website technology has emerged, offering benefits not provided by WordPress. 2. CRM – This acronym stands for Customer Relationship Management and is your method of storing contact and historical information related to your leads, customers, vendors, publishers, agents, meeting planners, speakers bureaus, and audience members. Whether you think you have a CRM or not, you do. It may be in the form of a manual notebook, files, or even sticky notes or Excel. Improve your CRM early on in your book business and watch your sales potential double or triple or more! 3. List Builder – “The gold is in your list,” and that hasn’t changed in the 20 years I’ve been doing business online. You should always have a formalized effort for attracting your website visitors and social media connections to become part of your opt-in list. What’s changed, however, is new technology allowing you to segment your list to get more sales—faster. 4. Scheduler – Many authors I’ve worked with over the years have become coaches, consultants, and trainers. Google Calendar and various free and low-cost mobile apps like Evernote are good ways to get introduced to time-scheduling functionality. But, think bigger! Technology has evolved to allow you to set your own schedule of availability, display it publicly on your website, and have your clients buy your time without even requiring a phone call. 5. Integrated Order Automation – I’ve saved this one for last because it’s the secret sauce that ties everything together. More than just a “shopping cart,” integrated order automation allows your website, CRM, list building, product ordering, consulting, and coaching time and scheduling to all work together through one central database, saving you time, money, and overload stress.

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Automate as many of these pieces as possible, and you will be able to focus more on your book business and less on the technical aspects of website development and chasing leads. You don’t have to be technical to embrace technology when it comes to automating your book business.

Marty Dickinson is a two-time co-author of Web Marketing All-in-One for Dummies (Wiley) and is a certified Platinum Partner service provider and coach for CloudNet360 through his services company called Here Next Year. www.HereNextYear.com.

Member News Steve Snyder’s Shot Down continues to rack up awards and recognition. Not only did it receive a *Starred review from Blue Ink, it picked up an Honorable Mention in the entry-heavy General Non-Fiction Category at the Southern California Book Festival. He’s been speaking at a variety of military museums, selling out each time he presents.

Lesia Cartelli is doing the Author Happy Dance. Her first printing of Heart of Fire sold out in two months, and she’s back to print with a multi-thousand book run. She plans a multi-city publicity pitch.

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New Members Dennis Lunt is a retired air traffic controller, a former computer software developer/engineer and a University of Colorado graduate: Computer Science and English. A martial artist — 25 year student of Chinese Shaolin Kung Fu. He’s writing a history and photo-essay book on Chinese martial arts history and working on digital video productions about Chinese martial arts history. New to publishing, he’s seeking insight into realms of self-publishing and e-books. Avocations include: photography, videography, computer graphics (2D&3D). Find Dennis on YouTube channel: DenEyeFX. His website is http://shaolinexpedition.org

Janice S. Ellis, Ph.D., has written a column for newspapers, radio, and now online for the last 30 years, where she analyzes educational, political, social, and economic issues across race, ethnicity, age and socio-economic status. You can see her writings at www.JaniceSEllis.com Dr. Ellis also publishes www.USAonRace.com, an online educational magazine about race and ethnicity. The mission of USAonRace™ is to help bridge racial, ethnic, and cultural divisions in American society. Dr. Ellis also publishes the companion site, www.RaceReport.com, which gathers and covers race relations news and events across the United States and around the world. Dr. Ellis holds a Ph.D. in Communication Arts, and two Master of Arts degrees, one in Communications Arts and a second in Political Science, all from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. While teaching and raising two sons, Patricia Long dreamed of writing children’s stories. Her debut book, The Stitches Fairy, made that dream come true. Pat was born and raised in Allegany, New York. She earned her B.S. in Elementary Education from St. Bonaventure University and her M.A. in Special Education from the University of Northern Colorado. Pat taught children with learning disabilities for 22 years. Her students provided her with inspiration and wonderful story ideas. She is a member The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Lighthouse Writer’s Workshop in Denver, Colorado. She lives in Centennial, Colorado, with her husband, Jim. Pat enjoys traveling, reading, and playing with her four beautiful grandchildren.

Christina Thomas-Lambert, a Colorado native, has lived most of her life in rural Colorado. She and her two daughters moved from the plains to the Denver/ Metro area 10 years ago.

They immensely enjoy the outdoors, specifically activities in the mountains. She states, “There is just something about going for a hike or being in the mountains that restores my soul like nothing else.” She has worked in higher education for the past 15 years, seven of which has been with various Nursing education programs. She is contemplative and a seeker. Her spiritual wellbeing is as important as important to her as her mental and physical wellbeing. Now that her daughters are grown and independent, she is venturing into the field of writing.

Since 1995, Gail Palubiak has been Managing Partner of Lehman Gates Executive Search, a highly successful boutique executive search firm working closely with the leadership at 34 of the top investment firms in the US. In 2013, she followed her passion of helping people interview successfully by founding Interview Academy. Interview Academy is a job search consulting firm designed to help people identify more job opportunities and land higher paying offers.

The Author Resource

Hot Tips for Winter Batch and Organize Everything! A new software product has popped that is a combo media sharing/ transfer and content marketing solution. With SlideBatch, you can easily collect, organize, and brand content (videos, images, docs, links, and audio files) from virtually anywhere (hard drive, cloud drives, Internet) and instantly share the entire “batch” via e-mail, post, tweet, embed, etc. Batches are sharable, post-able, tweet-able and e-mail-able. They can also be SEO optimized, searchable, and share friendly. Folders can be batches—from reviews and testimonials to media articles to your photos. Why not research and ideas that you are gathering for you next book? https://www.slidebatch.com/

Images are important to your posts. Meet SpoutSocial Keeping up with the correct image sizes across all your social outposts is no easy task. SproutSocial can help with its always up-to-date guide to social media images: http://sproutsocial.com/insights/socialmedia-image-sizes-guide PLUS … let’s add image tools to your mix with the Free Image Creation Tools: http://sproutsocial.com/insights/free-image-creation-tools/

Did you miss a show? Listen to any of the previous shows either on your computer or via iTunes. Always packed with useful information for the author who wants to succeed. Past shows are listed on the home page of Your Guide to Book Publishing and AuthorU.org. All you need to do is click on the one you want, and it starts immediately. http://togi.us/authoru

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Hot Tips for Winter

Are you Blogging? Here’s a HOT TIP for pushing your Blogs via LinkedIn. It’s a huge traffic possibility—keyword searching drives it. What does that mean? Simply this: make sure you use one or two of your key words in the title … then repeat them, of course, in the body of the blog. That’s Social Media 101. All you do is write your lead HEADLINE, click on the paperclip image, and add the full link to your post.

Here’s why it’s hot, hot, hot: 1. If you have linked with more than 500 people, they will be notified that you have posted (Sure beats the nutsyness of Facebook deciding how many people are going to see what you post—with LinkedIn—your 500+ all get notified that you have a new article that has been posted—so much better!). Make that title snappy, sassy, salty, and keyword rich. 2. Another idea is to get readers to your Blog on your website (assuming that you have multiple posts that give it some “legs”) and hopefully, subscribe to it. Do this by posting your snappy, sassy, salty headline; be sure to include a couple of tease paragraphs. Add a Call-to-Action to scope out the rest of the article, including a “read more” phrase with the link to your website where your Blog resides. It’s a TaDah and a great way to kick off the New Year via LinkedIn. As a reminder … if you aren’t on the Author U group on LinkedIn – join it. There are over 7,700 voices with participants from a variety of countries who share info; a question-board is at your fingertips that gets immediate responses from other members; and I love the global voice it brings. TO DO: Publish one post per week on your LinkedIn profile. JOIN:

AuthorU on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Author-U-2603729

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Join Author U and REGISTER NOW for the 2015 Extravaganza ... and SAVE! http://authoru.org/event/2015-extravaganza-may-7-9

Why Join Author U? A good question. Here’s your answer: If you want the latest in marketing strategies and how-tos for Authors … join. If you want high content information to make your Authoring life successful … join. If you want to work with Publishing Professionals who will make your book and you shine—many who offer special rates and discounts to Author U members … join. If you want to be within a Community of Authors … join. If your goal is to be successful … join.

If you don’t want any of that, if you want to gaze and just think about writing and publishing, if you aren’t committed … don’t.

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What does your Author U membership bring? A lot! For only $99 … here’s why you should be a member: Member of ...

• The Author Resource magazine, published online 9 times a year • All programs designed for the committed and serious author - rates are $15 less for members meetings; $50 for BookCamps … over $100 for the Extravaganza • Reduced attendance costs for monthly programs, BookCamps, and Extravaganza in May • Webinars and Teleseminars (free) exclusive to Author U members • Archive access to all past webinars, radio shows, Google Hangout Air, Author Mentoring Mondays (free) exclusive to Author U members • Attendance at Member-only events: Holiday, Annual BBQ, Tech Toolboxes, and Salons • Book Award discounts: USA Book News, Global eBook Awards • Book Blog Campaign discount: The Cadence Group • Book and Publishing Coaching discounts: The Book Shepherd, Get Published Coach • Book Cover design discounts: NZ Graphics, F+P Design • Book Display discounts: BookDisplays.com • Book Fulfillment and Distribution discounts: Author Fulfillment Services, Pathway Book Service, New Shelves Distribution • Book Interior Designs discounts: WESType Publishing, NZ Graphics, F+P Design, 1106 Design • Book Printing discounts and perks: Sheridan Books, Four Colour Print Group, Thomson-Shore, Color House Graphics, King Printing, MiniBuk, Lightning Source • Book Publicity discounts: Stephanie Barko, New Shelves, Smith PR • Book Review discounts: BlueInk Reviews, Foreword magazine • Book and Audio Cataloging-In-Publication discounts: Donohue Group • e-Books, Audio book discounts: NZ Graphics, Book Baby, Author Fulfillment Services • Credit Card Merchant Service discounts: The Free Terminal • Editing and Indexing services discounts: Editing by John Maling, Patti Thorn, Denver Editor (Linda Lane) • Graphics and Illustrations discounts: NZ Graphics, F+P Design, IllustratingYou • Legal assistance for authors and publishers: The Replin Law Group, LLC; Legal Shield • National Book Distribution discounts: Pathway Book Service, New Shelves • Online Book Industry Optimization Discount: New Shelves Distribution • Shipping discount: FedEx • Virtual office assistance discounts: Cornerstone Virtual Assistant, 123Employee • Website design and implementation discounts: IllustratingYou, NGNG • Bowker discounts • Bookscan discounts

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Lick your lips. Whet your appetite. Start salivating. It’s time for …

The Authors Cookbook Author U is gathering up recipes. An author cookbook is in the works. The Authors Cookbook is the working title, most likely waiting for the magic morph to it. The goal is to create a cookbook of favorite Author U member recipes that may have inspired you, created the comfort food needed when a chapter just isn’t coming together, or a favorite dish that creates the happy dance when celebrations are in order. The proceeds of the cookbook will fund the Authors Hall of Fame, our 501c3 organization that rolls out “officially” next year at Extravaganza. Your contribution could be a beverage, appetizer, dessert, side dish, main dish—seafood, poultry, meat, soups, sauce, salad, sandwich, casserole, different cultures/nations/seasons, vegetarian, breads, menus, something for kids, special celebrations, entertaining tips … you name it—we are game for anything. Not sure what the category is? Just call it Miscellaneous … we will figure it out.

We need recipes, tips, and goodies to include—the more, the better. Here’s what we need to have: • How about a brief tidbit on where it came from or how you created it?—of course a short bio as well (as in very short bio of no more than 75 words about you and your book). • Your magic recipe(s). • Nifty name/title for your recipe. • Both prep and cooking time. • If you just happen to have a pic of the finished masterpiece, include the jpg. Submit soon and submit many. You will be acknowledged on both the recipe page and in a special section in the book—that makes you a contributor. Alert … you will not be paid for your participation. You will be able to get a teaspoon of a discount when the books are available for sale. We have to select the final title and get it assembled. This will be an author and publishing community project with all proceeds in sales going to the Authors Hall of Fame. Would you like to be in it? Start sending in your recipes. A J White (author of The Bloomers), Judi Monsour (ghostwriter For the Love of Paprika), and Judith Briles (author of Author YOU) will gather them—they are cooks. They create their own recipes, and they read cookbooks; they will edit, work closely with the interior designer, and get it printed and on the reader’s plate. Send all your recipes to AJ White at: mailto:AJ@Bloomerwise.com Put in subject line: AU cookbook

The Author Resource

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always a good idea to review some of Author Uâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original fabric. If you are a member, please take a few minutes to read over part of our core guidelines about how the business and the behavior of the authoring/publishing community should treat others.

Code of Ethics The Board of Directors of Author U(niversity) states that establishing and maintaining public confidence in the integrity of authoring and publishing by and through the organization are fundamental to the success and viability of the organization and its membership. In furtherance of its mission to create and sustain the highest levels of public and private integrity of Author U(niversity), the Board of Directors adopts this Code of Ethics. Accepting this Code of Ethics shall be a condition of membership, and fulfilling the terms and conditions and spirit of this Code of Ethics shall be a condition for maintaining membership in Author U(niversity). Actions deemed contrary to any article of this Code by any Author U(niversity) member shall be judged by the Board of Directors in accordance with the policies and procedures stated in the Bylaws of Author U(niversity). Any action deemed a violation of this Code of Ethics may result in disciplinary action, including terminating membership. Such disciplinary action shall be instituted by the Board of Directors. The findings and decisions of the Board of Directors shall be final and binding upon such member or members. No member shall have recourse against Author U(niversity), its directors, officers, members, or employees. The results of any disciplinary action will be formally announced to Author U(niversity) members in The Resource, Author U(niversity)â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s e-Magazine. The Board of Directors has the right to decline membership in Author U(niversity) to any applicant if it has knowledge, direct or indirect, of behavior, including speech, of such applicant which would constitute a violation of any provision of the Code of Ethics. By applying for membership to Author U(niversity) and by signing this Code of Ethics, applicant agrees to the following: Article 1: Author U(niversity) members shall treat other members with courtesy, dignity, and respect. Members will respect the personal and business confidentiality of other members. Article 2: Author U(niversity) members shall conduct their business on the highest professional level and not bring discredit to Author U(niversity), its members, or to the publishing profession. Article 3: Author U(niversity) members shall avoid using materials, titles, or thematic creations originated by others, either orally, graphically, or otherwise, unless the use has been approved by the originator. Article 4: Author U(niversity) members shall protect the public and other members against fraud and unfair practices, and shall use his/her best efforts to eliminate any practice that may bring discredit to the publishing profession, to Author U(niversity), or to its members. Article 5: Author U(niversity) members will not engage in any action or practice or agreement that will or will likely unfairly limit or restrain access to the marketplace by any other Author U(niversity) member based upon economic factors, race, creed, color, sex, age, disability, or country of national origin. Article 6: Author U(niversity) members will not engage in any action or practice that takes advantage of or exploits the comparative lack of knowledge or lack of expertise or the financial status of any Author U(niversity) member or member of the public.

Your joining Author U(niversity) and acceptance of membership signifies that you agree to the above.

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Everyone communicates differently. Judith Briles is the CEO and Chief Visionary Officer of Author U. She is at your service ... If you’re a Phone person, here’s the office: 303-885-2207 If you’re a Skype person, here’s Judith Briles’ handle, our CEO: Judith.Briles If you’re a Twitter person, here is the handle: @AuthorU If you’re a Facebook person, here is the page: http://Facebook.com/AuthorU If you’re a Google+ person, here is the page: Join the Community, Author U http://tinyurl.com/auggroup If you’re a LinkedIn person, join the Author U group http://tinyurl.com/nqcjfzl If you’re a Pinterest person, here is the page: http://Pinterest.com/authoru If you’re a Snail Mail person, here’s the office address: PO Box 460880, Aurora, CO 80046 If you’re an Impatient person, type an e-mail message to Judith below right now: http://authoru.org/contact-author-u.html